Tour & Giveaway for The Infinite Expanse by B.C. Powell

Evil lurks in the desolate Barrens of Krymzyn. For millions of Eras, predators with insatiable cravings have prowled the wasteland. When a traitor of the Delta enters their realm, the solitary beasts may finally have a leader to unite them.As a new order emerges in the Barrens, Chase and Sash begin their lives together. While Chase fights to prove he belongs in Krymzyn, the power inside Sash flourishes in ways no one could have imagined. But a vengeance from the wasteland is soon unleashed upon them.After Chase is trapped deep in the Barrens, his only escape is into the Infinite Expanse. Unaware of the deathly perils that take shape there, he may be lost forever. For Sash to return him from the endless wilderness, she’ll have to harness a mystical energy not seen since the beginning of time.

On my sixth morrow in Krymzyn, tracked by a calendar I made by hand on a sheet of fabric, Sash and I are near the end of our sparring session when she catches me off guard with a suggestion. Actually, it’s more of an order.

“We’re going all out with real spears.”

“Why?” I ask.

“So you know what an actual fight feels like.”

“But one of us—and by one of us, I mean me—could really get hurt,” I say.

“That won’t happen,” she replies. “I won’t stab you through your head or heart, and you won’t stab me through mine. We’ll pull back on impact anywhere else. Minor injuries can be healed by sap.”

“Sash, I don’t want to do this,” I grumble.

She tosses her practice spear to the ground, takes mine from my hands, and lays it on the grass beside hers. After picking up our real spears, she holds mine out to me.

“You have to,” she says. “It’s part of your training.”

“I don’t want to do this with you, Sash,” I complain, although I have no choice but to take my weapon from her.

Without the slightest warning, she jabs the tip of her spear across the skin of my shoulder. A thin line of blood trails behind the steel point.

“What the fuck!” I shout.

“If a Murkovin attacks you, do you think you can avoid a fight by saying you don’t want to?”

“This is different.”

“This is part of your training,” she calmly replies. “I want to be the one to do it with you.”

“Sash, I told you I don’t want—”

“Always think ahead,” she interrupts, crouching with her spear at the ready. “Not one step ahead, not two, but think of every possible move I might make. Know what your reaction will be to anything I might do before I ever go into motion.”

She rams her spear at my stomach, but this time, I swing my weapon up to block the point away. I try to cross-check my spear into her chest just to push her backwards, but she dips under the shaft, sweeps a foot behind my legs, and knocks my feet out from under me.

“You were off-balance,” she says, circling me as I lie on the ground. “You’re not concentrating.”

I know there’s no getting out of this, so when I stand, I try to let everything Sash has taught me flow through my limbs. Our weapons clang in the air as we stab, block, and spin. Having seen her in real battle, I can tell she’s holding back enough to keep me in the fight, but she still occasionally jabs the point of her spear deep enough into my flesh to draw blood. She wants to toughen me, I soon realize, trying to make sure I stay in the fight no matter what injuries I might incur. Although her face is focused throughout the skirmish, I see her wince anytime she actually causes me pain.

I manage to do a little of my own damage, taking her legs out from under her once and another time slamming an elbow into her chest hard enough to send her stumbling backwards. Any time I get a blow past her defense, she smiles ever so slightly. Finally, we both completely let loose in a furious clash of steel, which ends with me on my back and Sash standing over me, both hands clutching her spear. I cross my eyes to see the point pressed against my forehead.

“You did well, Chase,” she says. “If you can stay in a fight with me as long as you did, you can take a Murkovin.”

About the Author:

BC Powell is a fantasy author from Los Angeles, CA. His debut science fiction fantasy novel "Krymzyn" was published in October, 2014. "The Infinite Expanse", the highly anticipated second book in "The Journals of Krymzyn" series, is scheduled for release on March 31, 2015.

Powell has a diverse background, having held several creative positions in the entertainment industry, including executive roles at ABC-TV and Technicolor. In recent years, he's authored several non-fiction works, primarily educational books and training programs for trading the financial markets. He dual majored in journalism and philosophy at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Writing fiction has been his lifelong passion and goal. “The Journals of Krymzyn” represents, in his words, “finally finding the story I want to tell with characters that are able to bring that story to life.” He's an avid reader and lists Ernest Hemingway, Frank L. Herbert, Stephen King, Jane Austen, and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. as his favorite authors.

Brad, as he prefers to go by in personal communication, lives with his longtime girlfriend, three sons from a previous marriage, and their rescue dog and cat. He enjoys hiking, ocean kayaking, spending time at Southern California beaches, movies, and reading.